Over on YouTube, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou is the man behind Strip Panel Naked, a great series of “How To” videos analysing and breaking down comics art in detail, which includes items featuring Mike Mignola and Jordie Bellaire. His latest is the first of a series of Creators Edition special episodes – the first part of a chat with Declan Shalvey, artist for Marvel, DC and Image Comics, whose credits include Injection, Civil War II and, currently, All Star Batman.
In the video, Hassan and Declan talk through a page in Issue #1 of his Moon Knight run with Warren Ellis and Jordie Bellaire.
“I’ve had a lifelong love of comic books, and used to run IndieReviews back in 2006, which was a website looking at small press comics in the UK,” Hassan says of the project. “Now I work as a video editor and cameraman in between busy bouts of reading comics.
“I started ‘Strip Panel Naked’ because I wanted to see more in-depth analysis on comics and comic art. The response has been amazing, and has already started fostering more discussion.
“A lot of artists and writers in comics are often working with invisible tools,” he continues. “Controlling eyelines, reading speed, the way you understand character relationships and action. It’s a very unique art form, because like cinema it’s entirely visuals-based, but unlike cinema, you don’t have as much direct control on your audience. You have to utilise a lot of clever tricks to get your audience to do what you want them to, without it ever really feeling forced.
“That’s what ‘Strip Panel Naked’ is all about. Each video is around 5-10 minutes, focusing on a particular issue and theme within that issue. That way we can really look in-depth at what and how the artist/writer/creative is doing.
So I’ve looked at topics such as Declan Shalvey Creating a Good Action Comic, David Aja‘s Panel Density, and how Chris Samnee Controls Movement.
“A few times a week I also do breakdowns of interesting comic pages I’ve noticed. These are found on twitter (@HassanOE) but archived on this page, too.”
At the moment Hassan is releasing one video a week, each Saturday, but if he gets more support for the project over on Patreon that may mean, with the extra Patreon rewards, he’ll take a little longer in the coming months, and work on a 10-day or fortnightly schedule. Do check out his Patreon page if this is a project you’d like to back.
“Anything you can donate, whatever amount, goes into allowing more time to make these videos,” says Hassan. “From research, to editing, to creating the additional content. I really want ‘Strip Panel Naked’ to help foster conversation about the medium, and help myself and others get a deeper understanding of it all.”
• Check out the Strip Panel Naked project here on YouTube
• If you lie what you see, then consider supporting Hassan’s work on Patreon | Follow Hassan on Twitter @HassanOE where he also breaks down interesting comic pages as part of furthering his comic creation conversation
• Find Declan Shalvey on tumblr | Follow Declan Shalvey on Twitter @declanshalvey
Moon Knight © Marvel Comics
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Comic Creator Interviews, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Features, US Comics